Hello, Mr. Umbrella

Chapter Twelve

Bleak, lonely, depressive, wretched, cheerless, sad and godforsaken.

Those were the words that best qualifies Aliyah as she stood in front of the Mayor's Manor oak door, sulking in her own annihilation. She rang the doorbell for the twentieth time and no one responded nor let her in. She was sure someone was at home; Clarissa was definitely at home, she was just taunting her. Bringing brownies, cookies, chocolate-filled doughnuts and glazed ones to one's nemesis could soften their hearts and make them reconsider feuding. But that might not work for Aliyah and Clarissa; the doughnuts were already ruined—the smooth edible coating on the brown and smooth surface of the doughnut was melting away.

As if Clarissa was a Chinese goddess —Aliyah stood still with much compulsion at the doorstep of her temple. Examining the great features of the excellent yet mediocre oak door, she picked one already-melted glazed doughnut and took a deep bite out of it; melting the glaze with her warm saliva and enveloping the doughnut with her tongue—brownish-white crumbs were scattered on her chapped lips. She knew Clarissa would be in her hideout, watching her suffering for an hour and half. It was her fault actually. She deserved more than what Clarissa was doing to her.

What was she even thinking? A kiss from James? He could actually be nothing but a teenager with raging hormones, who just wanted to ease his pleasure on her; judging by his religion. Maybe Bilal was just a normal teen actor who wanted an honest relationship to take his career to a higher peak. Either ways; Islam prohibited her from dating any of them.

Harsh?

Not even close to harsh. That wasn't a harsh rule. The only harsh decision was Aliyah's self-centred, obnoxious and blithe behavior. Islamic rules are always ideological and easy to adhere to. The reasons behind the prohibition of boyfriend-and-girlfriend relationships was clearly visible. The truth about relationships is: it gives confidence, affection and whatnot—but there is also a dark side to it; it wears someone down, making them dependent on their partners. It feeds on them and turns them into something worst like a bloodsucking parasite.

Humans are only focused on the minutiae, neglecting the real fact about relationships. Breakups always happen—that's an inevitable truth about all relationships. After this, the girlfriend would undergo the darkest stage of her life. Aliyah thanked Allah for sending Clarissa their way to stop them, before she did something she would never forget.

Tired and exhausted, Aliyah rang the doorbell for the last time. She wasn't really expecting anybody. After a minute of being engulfed in silence and awkwardness, the oak door swung open and the inside of the Mayor's Manor was clearly visible during the day; it was indeed a shrine.

Not that typical shrine with weird decorations and unimaginable carved idols, but a shrine representing fashion and history. The mixture of Chinese culture and modern technology. The inside of the Mayor's Manor was round and spacious, just like a ballroom. No wonder Clarissa chose to organize her party there, it was the perfect venue; without furniture of course. Aliyah's eyes wandered around the manor; she couldn't help but steal gazes at the old and expensive Chinese artifact. Aliyah scanned the room from ceiling-to-floor and her eyes landed on the wooden staircase.

Aliyah's father was an architect, but his architectural designs were not as good as the Mayor's Manor. Her jaw was on the floor, some part of her wished for power and all of the things Clarissa had. That might happen if her father wins the mayoral election. She cleared those thoughts from her mind as she remembered she came here to apologize, even when she did nothing to Clarissa. Before she could stop, she picked up a boomerang-like relic. The ancientness of the relic sent chills down Aliyah's spine; like it was haunted or was a key holding a bad spirit in abeyance in the spirit realm—given by the horrific Chinese tales. Some complicated Chinese was scribbled on it, and if Aliyah was to guess what it was, she would say; it means the devil's disc.